Blue text on a white background

Elsie Janis was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1889, and she started entertaining people before she was three years old.  She began doing imitations of celebrities, then moved on to vaudeville.  During World War I, she performed for troops in England and France, then eventually began acting, producing, and writing for film.  She wrote the screenplay for Regular Girl, which was released in 1919.  She also a co-wrote the title song and had the starring role in the film.  Janis regularly performed for war-related charities and organizations like the American Legion.  After her death in 1956, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.

Blue text under a red white and blue flag on a white background

When Czechoslovakia dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Czech Republic kept the Czechoslovakia flag while Slovakia adopted their own. However, prior to the dissolution a resolution was passed by the Czechoslovakian government that neither state would adopt any emblem of Czechoslovakia. The Czech Republic argued that the resolution was created by a country that did not exist and continued to use the former Czechoslovakia flag. The flag itself holds little meaning but the colors are traditional Bohemian colors and the pattern was selected to produce an easily recognizable flag, especially in battle.

Illustration of a smiling face on a yellow background

The classic yellow smiley face is comprised of a yellow circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Illustration of a smiling face on a bright orange background

This is an orange variation of the classic yellow smiley face which is comprised of a circle, two black dots for eyes and a black arc ending in serifs for a mouth. It  was designed in 1963 by by commercial artist, Harvey Ross Ball. Ball was commissioned by The State Mutual Life Insurance Company to create a happy face to raise the morale of their employees. His version was created in 10 minutes. The design was printed onto more than 50 million buttons. Neither Ball nor the company copyrighted this smiley, so it was continually used by other businesses in their promotions.

The design and concept is quite simple and was definitely used before Ball’s 1963 version. However his has become the most iconic. Variations have been used for advertising campaigns and in popular culture ever since.

Gold text on blue background around outer border, blue and gold fleur-de-lis Saints logo and NFL logo in center. 

The New Orleans Saints are a National Football League (NFL) team who play in the National Football Conference (NFC) South Division. New Orleans was awarded an NFL franchise in 1966, and the team was announced on All Saints' Day (November 1). The team was named for the great jazz song, "When the Saints Go Marching In," recorded by Louis Armstrong in 1938, and long-associated with New Orleans. One of the original team owners, John Mecom, Jr., wanted the team color to be Mecom blue, a shade used by his other investments. The NFL felt that the color was too similar to that worn by the San Diego Chargers, so the Saints settled on black, gold and white. The logo, a fleur-de-lis, is a symbol of the city of New Orleans and France's royal family. After the Gulf Coast area and the team's stadium, the Superdome, suffered damages from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Saints made it to their first Super Bowl in 2009, and defeated the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 31-17. 

Black text on a white background with a red and white checkerboard outer edge

In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt formed the National Progressive Party, also known as the Bull Moose Party because the President had supposedly told reporters after the assassination attempt on his life that “I’m as fit as a bull moose.”  Cartoonist Bud Fisher created a cartoon of Mutt (of Mutt & Jeff) telling the President to tie his bull outside. This term has come to mean disbelief or rejection of an idea.  In the story Three Soldiers, written by John Dos Passos in 1921, one of the patients in a hospital ward shouts “Fellows, the war’s over.” The other patients respond with “Tie that bull outside.”

Blue text and a blue and white photograph on a white background

Husk O’ Hare was a Chicago band leader in the 1920s.  In addition to leading his own bands, O’Hare also booked other bands all over Illinois and neighboring states.  He promoted his business and his bands vigorously and rented a flashing sign on top of the building where his offices were located.  O’Hare’s own bands were house bands at hotels and radio stations, which could explain the “every week” reference on the button.  These bookings would have followed a regular schedule, which allowed O’Hare to run his booking business when he was not performing.

Blue text and a red heart on a white background

A.I.P. is likely referring to the American Independent Party, a far-right political party organized on July 8, 1967 at a convention in Bakersfield, California. The AIP was created to support Alabama Governor George C. Wallace's in his efforts to run for president in the 1968 presidential election. The goal of the party is to support “limited constitutional government, with emphasis on the rights of the several states to govern their own local affairs and educational systems without federal bureaucratic or court interference.” The AIP has had presidential and vice-presidential candidates on the ballot since its inception, however the party officially split in 1976 into the more moderate American Party and highly-conservative Constitution Party.  The party faced further leadership strife in 2007.

This is a variation of the I heart NY logo that was created in 1977 by Milton Glaser for an ad campaign created by advertising agency Wells Rich Greene. The marketing campaign was sought by then-Deputy Commissioner William S. Doyle to increase tourism in the state of New York. The campaign was a wild success. The original sketch of the logo is permanently on display at the MOMA.

The logo has become iconic in pop-culture and has been imitated in many forms around the world.

Blue text on a white background with a red stripe across the center with white text and blue stars underneath

Archie Bunker is the fictional character from the television show, All in the Family, a 1970s sitcom about Archie (Carroll O’Connor), his wife Judith ( Jean Stapleton), his daughter Gloria (Sally Struthers), and her husband Mike (Rob Reiner) living their everyday life. O’Connor portrayed Archie as a conservative, blue collar father reacting to the world changing around him. This show portrayed the older conservative generation and the younger, more liberal generation interacting together in a lighthearted fashion while presenting political content humorous enough for the audience to enjoy.

In 1972, All in the Family and its cast of characters were promoted with merchandise as a tie-in with the U.S. presidential election of that year. 

Illustration of the Lone Ranger on his horse on a red background with an outer white edge and black text

On September 11, 1938, the Los Angeles Sunday Herald and Examiner began running a weekly feature of the Lone Ranger in their comic section of the paper. The strip was illustrated by Charles Flanders, written by Ed Kressy, and ran until 1971.

Fran Striker created the Lone Ranger character which first appeared in a 1933 radio show on WXYZ Detroit. The show was an immediate success and soon picked up by other stations including NBC. Although originally created for children, adults made up at least half of the audience. The fictional character, who rode a white horse called Silver, is named the Lone Ranger because he is the only survivor of a group of six Texas Rangers who were ambushed by outlaws.